Safety



(N0 Modei.)

13.. BRIODY. Y

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY SWITCHES.

No. 307,909. Patented Nov. 11, 1.884.

WITNESSES W D E Afforney Uwirnn TATES ATENT FFlQ BARNAD BRIODY, OFDETROIT, MICHIGAN.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY-SWITCHES.

SPECEFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 307,909, dated November11, 1884.

. Application filed March 28, 188-1. (N model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BARNAD BRIODY, of Detroit, county of lVayne, Stateof Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in SafetyAppliances for Railway-Switches; and I declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis specification.

My invention consists of the combinations of devices and applianceshereinafter specified, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan view illustrating my.improved device with the switch closed, so as to leave the main lineunbroken; Fig. 2, a similar view with the switch open, so as to throwthe train upon the side track. Fig. 3 is aside elevation representing anelevated pointed rail. Fig. 4 is a .side elevation of an elevated rail,showing how its ends are-bent down. Fig. 5 is a crosssection throughFig. 2.

It is well known that one of the greatest sources of railway accidentsarises from open switches, whereby a train under speed is unexpectedlyshifted off onto the side track, and so caused to collide with cars uponthe side track.

It is the object of my invention toovercorne the liability of such anaccident, and to provide a mechanism which, should the switch be leftopen, would immediately shift the cars back onto the main track withoutdanger to either lives or property.

In carrying out my invention, A and A represent the main track, B and Bthe side tracks, 0 any switch.

D is a rail. Its end d is. depressed to a point slightly below the levelof the flanges of the car-wheels. The tread of the rail then graduallyrises until it is at or slightly above the level of the adjacent rail B.It reaches this level at or about the point (1, so that the flange ofthe wheel riding upon this rail would at this point easily ride off ontothe adjacen rail B.

Eis whatIterm an elevated rail andpoint. The point e of this rail is atthe level of the top of the adjacent rail B, and is slightly cientlyhigh to elevate the flange of the carwheel above the level of theadjacent rail'A; and this elevated portion of the rail extends from thepoint e to the point e.

F is a guard-rail securely fastened at f to the rail B, and from thispoint inclining toward the adjacent rail A, so as at this point todirect the adjacent wheel onto the main track A.

The operation of the device will now be understood. If the switch isclosed, as in Fig; 1, the track is clear and the train passes freely;if, however, through carelessness, the switch is left open, as shown inFig. 2, it is apparent that the train when it reaches the switch will bedeflected to the side track, B and B; but immediately after passing ontothe side track the car wheel flanges will ride up onto the rail D untilthe flanges are on a level with the top of the adjacent rail B. At thisinstant the opposite wheels will ride up on the pointed rail E, whichwill lift the flanges above the level of the adjacent rail A, and willat the same time crowd the wheels over toward the main track, so thatthe flanges on the opposite side of the car will ride off from the railD onto the tread of the adjacent rail B. Now, it will be observed thatthe rails B and B are constantly diverging from the main track A A whilethe pointed rail E and the rail B are approaching each other. It istherefore seen that as the wheels advance the rail E will first crowdthe flanges of the opposite wheels off from the rail D until they rideon the tread of the rail B, and a little farther on the flanges willride off from the rail B and cause the wheel to drop down between therails A and B. A little later the guard-rail F will shift the wheelsonto the rails of the main track A and A, and so the train which startedonto the side track is deflected quickly onto the main track.

It will be observed that thus far no means have been described by whichthe train could be shifted onto the side track. This feature I will nowproceed to describe.

G is an equalizing-bar pivoted at g. The opposite ends are connected,respectively, with IOO the rails D and E, and their motion is controlledby a lever, H, so that by lifting or actuating the lever the rails D andE are simultaneously moved toward each other, so as to be free from theadjacent rails B and B, and as long as they are in this position a trainmay pass freely onto the side track. This is indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 2. Now, in order that, through carelessness, these rails D and Emay not be thus shifted out of place, I prefer that they shall be forcedback into place by a spring as soon as the switchmans hand is removedfrom the lever H. This may be accomplished in any convenient manner bythe proper location of a spring; but, as a matter of convenience, Iprefer to employ the natural spring of the pointed rail E, that railbeing held rigidly at its farther extremity, and be sprung away from therail by the action of the lever H.

I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to any particularspring mechanism, so also the rails might be thrown back into place bythe action of a weight on the lever H, this weight being alwayssufficient to shift the rails back into place whenever the switchmanceases to lift upon the lever. This construction avoids all liability toaccident by reason of an open switch, for should the switchman simplythrow the switch 0 and fail to lift the lever H the train would firstpass off onto the side track and be then shifted back onto the maintrack, as before explained, while to throw it upon the side track it isonly necessary for the switchman, after th rowing the switch 0, to stepto the lever II and lift upon that lever until the train has passedentirely upon the side track.

The rails A and B,-within the limits of this appliance, are preferablylocated so close to gether that as the flange rides off from the rail 13the tread of the wheel projects suffi ciently far to ride onto theadjacent rail A without permitting the wheel to drop down between thetwo rails. If, however, for any reason, this relation of the rails A andB cannot be maintained, I would in that event build up between thetracks A and B, so that the flange in riding off from the rail B wouldride onto this filling, which would hold the tread of the wheelsufiiciently elevated to run freely onto the track A when shifted by therail F.

\Vh at I claim is- 1. A safety appliance for switches, consisting of thecombination, with the main and side tracks, of rails D and E,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, with the main and side tracks, of a rail, D, adaptedto receive the flanges of the wheels and lift them to the level of theside track, and a rail, E, adapted to receive the tread of the wheelsand elevate them so as to permit the flanges to ride over onto the maintrack, substantially as de scribed.

3. The combination, with the main and side tracks, of the rails D and E,and means for simultaneously bringing their extremities toward eachother and away from the side track, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the main and side tracks, of rails D and E, alever for simultaneously forcing the two rails away from the side track,and mechanism for automatically returning them to place, substantiallyas described.

5. The combination, with the main and side tracks, of rails D and E,automatically operating to move in one direction, and a lever forsimultaneously shifting them away from the side track, substantially asdescribed.

6. In combination with the main and side tracks, the rails D and E, anda lever for simultaneously shifting them away from the side track, therail E serving as a spring to force the rails back into position whenthe lever is released, substantially as described.

7-. The combination, with the main and side tracks, of rails D and E anda guard-rail, F, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

BARNAD BRIODY.

\Vitnesses:

N. S. XVRIGI-I'r, M. B. ODoGHER'rY.

